Bali bomber apologizes 20 years on

The last surviving bomber in the Bali blasts that killed more than 200 people two decades ago expressed regret for the deadliest terror attack in Southeast Asia ahead of its 20th anniversary today.

Ali Imron was sentenced to life in prison for his role in blasts that ripped through a nightclub and a bar on the Indonesian resort island, killing 202 people including 88 Australians.

"I will regret it until I die," he said in Jakarta. "And I will apologize until I die."

But victims do not accept any words of remorse.

"When people are in a bind they will say anything to get out of the problem," said Thiolina Marpaung, a 47-year-old survivor left with permanent eye injuries.

Imron, 52, helped mastermind the bombings. He built the devices, planted a bomb outside the US consulate in Bali and trained the attackers who detonated a suicide vest and an explosives-filled van.

He is the only bomber still alive, languishing in a drug offenders' facility.

His brothers Amrozi and Mukhlas were executed by firing squad.

Imron was saved from execution after revealing secrets to investigators.

He also helps with a program to counter radicals, but experts say it is ineffective.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE